After beating CONCACAF champions America with an injury time goal, Guangzhou Evergrander are through to the semis where they'll play some regional fan-owned club founded by a bunch of foreigners.

On the other side of the draw local champions Hiroshima are in the semis against first-timers River Plate. That could be a very interesting encounter. The defending third-place winners from Auckland went out in the playoff.

nzfooty wrote:Yeah, I agree. But last year they made 3rd by beating Crul Azul (Mexico) and outplayed San Lorenzo (Argentina) in the semis before losing in extra time.

In 2009 they won two matches as well (played in the UAE).

That is massive for a small club ChangwonMatty was forced to watch over the last two years.

OK, another attempt then. Slowing the game down and packing the defence works better in warmer climates, where teams are worried about the heat, than in Japan in December?

That's actually a thought if they ever do hold a World Cup in Qatar...

Again, I agree but that is a bit harsh on Auckland. BBC's Tim Vickery (a notorious figure in his work environment because he speaks a foreign language, actually knows a thing or two about football and can spell BBC). Well, that bloke said Auckland played more modern football than San Lorenzo. So while in general I think you are right, I still think Auckland is under-performing.

nzfooty wrote:So while in general I think you are right, I still think Auckland is under-performing.

Underperforming because they lost 2-0 in Japan to the champions of Japan?

Haha, man you have a talent. Yes, I used the wrong term. I should've said that the performances were not as good in Japan as they are elsewhere. Shorthand: under-performing. Wrong, I know.

Anyway, while I generally agree with you, I think my original question has not been answered:

for reasons unknown they do seem to do well when it is played in Nth Africa or the ME.

It's possible that we have not had enough tournaments to establish this pattern. This a pretty artificial competition. We take it seriously is NZ, and South America seems to take it seriously. I'm not so sure for Japan and definitely that's not the case for Europe.

I think it has meaning. But I'd like to see more matches and perhaps them taking on a Japanese side or two in the Middle East before I'm convinced there's a pattern with the venue. Auckland fully deserve the credit they get for their performances at the Club World Cup. Just the fact that they are making the tournament a home away from home is remarkable enough and it's great that everyone in New Zealand gets behind them so much.

I don't think Auckland's 2009 result was that surprising. Dubai's Al-Ahli were not the team they are now. They finished bottom of their ACL group that year collecting only 1 point and I already wrote on here about how TP Mazembe were challenging the barman as much as the opposition that year viewtopic.php?p=23271#p23271.

Which leaves 2014 as an anomaly and perhaps a close match in 2013 too. Tetouan's (current) value on Transfermarkt is very similar to Auckland's http://www.transfermarkt.de/moghreb-tet ... erein/9100 and even Setif's is only as large as would merit a lower half positioning in the K-League. San Lorenzo did what they needed to win the semi-final, much like Estudiantes did against Pohang back in 2009. Argentinian sides don't really have a tradition of imposing themselves away from home and quite likely they underestimated Auckland and had their minds fixed on Real Madrid three days away. Auckland held their own, there's no doubt about that, against a team that ought to beat them easily, but we're not dealing here with something as improbable as a non-league team of amateurs playing their way to within a whisker of the FA Cup final. I think if Auckland played San Lorenzo or Cruz Azul repeatedly over a season then things would look less like drawing 1-1 with the World Champions and more like the 2014 playoff with Mexico.